High input costs dampen impacts of exceptional weather

Stand in the Gap

Kathleen Duffy

With the temperature at 29 degrees and the longest day in the year, every farmer had a chance to finish the first cut silage or take out bales from paddocks that have gone too strong for grazing.

The lovely sunny days are great and give a holiday feeling to everyone while the few days' rain gets growth up again. The lakeshore in Virginia and the Lakeside Manor have been packed as they give people an opportunity to relax and enjoy good weather and good food. We have had great weather all this year with an exceptional spring and the growth from the heat and rain continuing on the grazing paddocks.

The plum and apple trees are laden with fruit, so much so we will probably have to thin out some branches. The roses are blooming and because I keep a basin in the sink and rather than letting the water down the sink, I throw the water on the flowers. Best wishes to all who have vegetables and fruit growing and honey, I am sure the good weather is making a difference.

Most of the AI serving is over, but we are still getting a few repeats so the bull will be running with the cows and heifers to mop up. The first scanning will soon take place and we like all other farmers hope for good results. We don’t need tail painting except the heifers over in Cross as we have the robots and their collars monitor the cows. We need to get the cows and heifers in calf before July 20 so as not to have May calvers. We also need to weigh young stock and talk to the vet about dosing. We will probably get dung samples so we don’t dose for the sake of treating.

Profitability

The grass should be measured every few days, but there is not always someone to do it. The growth rate here last week was nearly 80DM/ha which is high, while the rotation is at 23 days. We are waiting for rain to soften the ground so we can put slurry on the silage ground and protected urea with sulphur on the grazing ground. We have to keep an eye on the sulphur because of copper lockup in our high molybdenum area. With the robot, we have a three way grazing system, but currently with the strong growth rate of grass and even though there is a lot of clover in paddocks, we still have to take out some paddocks and top others as the grass is getting too stemmy. There are only 90 days left to put out fertiliser, so we need to stick to the nitrites plan.

We are increasing slurry storage and need to get planning permission for same, we would also love to invest in heat detection collars for the heifers on the out block and for next year, automatic calf feeders, but all that is wishful thinking as input costs are continuing to rise and affect profit margins. There is no certainty that profitability will continue even for the rest of this year.

Crazy world

This world is gone crazy. We have watched the war in Ukraine drag on and the genocide in Gaza. Now it is Israel versus Iran with Trump adding to the conflict. All this is so serious and is having a terrible effect on the world, causing turmoil everywhere, with worries about price of oil, cost of living, job security, education and especially the lack of housing. We, in Ireland are so lucky to not be part of this, but we must play our part in Europe to try and bring an end to such tragedy.

We attended a lovely family event on Sunday morning in the Show Centre. It was a fundraiser and it was lovely to see so many young people with their young families meet and chat while enjoying the café facilities and the goodies provided. The alpacas and face painting were very popular. It is a very safe place for young children and is weather proof with our big arena, available when the rain showers came. Congratulations and well done to Aine and all her helpers on organising a great event.